MARS DELIVERS RECORD CARBON EMISSIONS REDUCTION

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Jul 24, 2024, 06:00 ET

Mars continues to decouple carbon emissions from business growth by reducing absolute GHG emissions in the full value chain by 16% since 2015

Mars 2023 Sustainable in a Generation Report shows a record 8% greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction, doubling its total GHG reduction to 16% across its full value chain and delivering its largest single year reduction in GHG emissions against its 2015 baseline. In the same period, the Mars business has grown over 60% to more than $50 billion in annual sales.
The absolute GHG reductions of 5.7 million metric tons cover the entire Mars Scope 1, 2 and 3 value chain, and Mars remains on track to delivering a 50% GHG reduction for its value chain by the end of 2030.
With almost 60% of the Mars GHG footprint coming from agriculture, Mars is investing further in scaling climate smart agriculture through initiatives already underway that will deliver more than 1 million acres of regenerative agriculture by 2030 across the globe, sourcing ingredients for Mars products ranging from snacks for people to meals for pets.
Mars CEO Poul Weihrauch said the progress reported is the result of the company's strategy to deliver solid growth while reducing its carbon emissions.

MCLEAN, Va., July 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mars, Incorporated today released the 2023 Mars Sustainable in a Generation Report, announcing notable progress toward its goal of achieving net zero by 2050, registering a record 8% GHG emissions reduction against its 2015 baseline across its full value chain in 2023 alone. Since 2015, GHG emissions in the company's value chain have been reduced by 16% (or 5.7 million metric tons — the equivalent GHG emissions generated by more than 1.3 million gasoline-powered automobiles in a year¹), while growing the business more than 60% to over $50 billion.

When Mars published the Mars Net Zero Roadmap in 2023, the company committed to investing more than $1 billion over three years – and continuing to commit financial resources as needed until net zero is achieved.

Poul Weihrauch, Mars CEO said: "Last year, we published our Net Zero Roadmap promising to accelerate our carbon reductions, and with this year's results, we are delivering on our business strategy to continue to grow while reducing our carbon emissions. We still have a long way to go, but we will continue to follow the science and show how a responsible business can both do well and do good."

With almost 60% of the company's value chain GHG footprint coming from agricultural ingredients, Mars is scaling up new climate smart agriculture initiatives to drive continued decarbonization. These initiatives aim to improve soil health and farm resilience — while providing critical financial support and training for farmers to accelerate the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices.

Barry Parkin, Mars Chief Sustainability and Procurement Officer, said: "Our latest carbon reductions show we are on track to deliver a 50% reduction by 2030. While we're proud of this progress, we know we have more work to do, and we look forward to continuing to scale our progress. It is critically important to strengthen our programs with farmers to help the transition to climate smart and regenerative agriculture."

Mars latest investments to scaling climate smart agriculture include:

Working with partners to establish a grower-centric program to support 1,900 farmers in four U.S. States, and Poland to deploy climate smart agriculture methods and focus on crops such as corn, soy, and wheat across more than 1.2 million acres of cropland, for Mars pet food brands such as PEDIGREE^® and IAMS^®.
Extending a partnership between Mars brand Royal Canin and Soil Capital, Mars will provide financial support to close to 250 farmers in France and Belgium and to date, the partnership has provided support to farmers across 300,000 hectares of farmland.
Continuing to support the Next Generation Soil program in Mexico and Brazil in collaboration with CIMMYT (Mexico) and Producing Right (Brazil). Through this program, we have already equipped 100 corn producers with the tools and knowledge to increase productivity, optimize the use of resources, and respond to the consequences of climate change, such as water scarcity and lower crop yields. The program also encourages new regenerative agriculture practices to protect the health of the soil, optimize the use of resources, and promote good productivity in grain production.
A recently announced sustainable dairy plan, Moov'ing Dairy Forward, that commits to a $47 million investment over three years as part the company's new climate-first approach to dairy sourcing to reduce the carbon footprint of dairy with partners Fonterra, Land O'Lakes, Interfood, and FrieslandCampina.

Sustainable in a Generation Report

Explore the 2023 Mars Sustainable in a Generation Report at www.mars.com/sustainability-plan/sustainability-report-progress to learn more about how Mars is advancing its climate actions, how Mars has now almost 750,000 people through its Supplier Advance and Supplier Origin programs since 2017 or how Mars Food & Nutrition delivered 3.1 billion healthy meals in 2023.

Please see the "About This Report" section of the Mars Sustainable in a Generation Report for important disclosures about the statements and information in the Report.

ABOUT MARS, INCORPORATED
Mars, Incorporated is driven by the belief that the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today. As a $50bn+ family-owned business, our diverse and expanding portfolio of leading pet care products and veterinary services support pets all around the world and our quality snacking and food products delight millions of people every day. We produce some of the world's best-loved brands including ROYAL CANIN^®, PEDIGREE^®, WHISKAS^®, CESAR^®, DOVE^®, EXTRA^®, M&M's^®, SNICKERS^® and BEN'S ORIGINAL^™. Our international networks of pet hospitals, including BANFIELD^™, BLUEPEARL^™, VCA^™ and ANICURA^™ span preventive, general, specialty, and emergency veterinary care, and our global veterinary diagnostics business ANTECH^® offers breakthrough capabilities in pet diagnostics. The Mars Five Principles—Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom—inspire our 150,000 Associates to act every day to help create a better world for people, pets and the planet.